Have Muammar Gaddafi's forces used rape as a weapon to suppress Libya's uprising?

Muammar Gaddafi, his son Saif and his intelligence chief, Abdullah Senussi, were indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) this week charged with crimes against humanity allegedly committed during the Libyan uprising. The ICC said there were "reasonable grounds" to believe that the three men were responsible for the murder and persecution of civilians.

The charges are based on an investigation by the court's chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, launched in February at the behest of the UN Security Council.

So far the indictment relates only to the first weeks of the conflict, but it is likely to expand to cover subsequent events. If so, then the court may also be asked to rule on allegations that Gaddafi's regime has used rape as a weapon against its opponents.

These claims first surfaced in March 2011 when a Libyan woman, Eman al-Obeidi, burst into a Tripoli hotel and told journalists she had been raped by security forces. Though she was quickly bundled away, other similar accusations have since emerged.

As Al Jazeera's Sue Turton has been finding out, getting evidence to substantiate the claims is far from easy.